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The increase in U.S. adults who own e-readers is outpacing the growth of tablet owners, according to a new phone survey by the Pew Internet Project.

Adults who owned ereaders like Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook doubled from 6 percent of the U.S. adult population in November 2010 to 12 percent in May 2011, according to the survey of 2,277 respondents aged 18 and over. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish.

Over the same period, the share of adults who said they owned a tablet such as Apple's iPad grew as well, but by just 3 percentage points. About 5 percent of respondents in an earlier Pew survey from November of last year said they owned a tablet, while 8 percent said they did in the most recent one, conducted between April 26 and May 22.

The Android-based, e-reader measures 5 x 6.5 inches and weighs less than 7.5 ounces, which is 35 percent lighter and 15 percent thinner than the first Nook. During a New York launch event, B&N CEO William Lynch promised the "longest battery life of any e-reader," or up to two months on a single charge, and 80 percent less flashing on the 6-inch touch screen; the white-out that occurs when flipping pages. There is 50 percent less contrast than the first-edition Nook.

The device has built-in Wi-Fi and will feature 2GB of onboard storage, expandable up to 32GB with microSDHC. It runs Android 2.1 and a 800MHz TI OMAP3 processor.

Barnes & Noble has sent out invitations to a May 24 event in New York City to announce a new e-reader device, most likely a new Nook.

Barnes & Noble has not indicated what the event will cover, with PR firm Fleishman refusing to take a page from Apple's playbook and tease audiences with what the announcement could include.

However, in a May 4 10K filing, Barnes & Noble disclosed that the May 24 announcement would indeed be an e-reader. "In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (the "Company") indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device," the company said, without elaborating.

Barnes & Noble now represents more than 25 percent of all of the U.S. market for e-books, more than the company's share of physical books, and it sells twice the number of e-books as physical books, at least online. The company exceeded its sales plans for e-book sales during the company's most recent quarter.It is the fourth straight quarter of topline growth exceeding 50 percent since selling the Nook in 2009.

Barnes & Noble is readying an updated e-reader, the company revealed in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

"In a meeting with investor analysts on May 4, 2011, Barnes & Noble ... indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011 regarding the launch of a new eReader device," the notice said.

The company provided no other details about what the updated e-reader might entail. The last major Nook upgrade was the Nook Color (pictured above,) which started shipping in November. The Android-based device includes a 7-inch touch screen and access to more than 2 million titles, as well as an extra-wide viewing angle intended for sharing. The screen boasts 1,024-by-600 resolution and 169 pixels per inch. It comes with 8GB of storage, expandable up to 32GB with a microSD card.

In late April, Barnes & Noble pushed out a major software update to the Nook Color, which included its own app store, an email client, the ability to play Flash video, and enhanced books. It also added support for Android 2.2 "Froyo" and Adobe Flash video.

We're been keeping our eye on gadgets that are worthy of being given to your mom for Mother's Day, and we've got another one for you. eBay has a deal where you get 50% off the Nook Wi-Fi + 3G e-reader. Original price on these is $199, and you get it direct from Barnes & Noble for $99 - and that includes shipping! There's a limit of one per customer. If you're interested, head on over:

If you're wondering where to invest your money now that Borders Books is in a state of freefall, you might hold off on putting some of your hard-earned money into the competition, Barnes & Noble.

“At the moment booksellers are something to avoid as an investment. Across the board, even for B&N, losses have exceeded expectations. Economics of digital business for B&N look worse than they should.”

According to an inside source, the Nook 3G is being discontinued by Barnes & Noble. The company cites lack of bulk demand for the device, and is now filling orders until the stock is depleted. The Nook is one of the strongest Kindle alternatives out there, but we think it's fairly obvious that there isn't really that much of a need to have your ebook reader perpetually connected to the Internet through 3G. Anyhow, if you've been thinking about getting a Nook with 3G built-in, now's the time.

Barnes & Noble just announced the nook Color, their next-generation color touchscreen nook ebook reader with 7-inch display, powered by Android. They're saying it's a cross between a tablet device and e-reader, and it'll obviously integrate with a bunch of web services and apps (it's already got Facebook and Twitter integration.) Wi-Fi (but not 3G) is built right in, and the display is impressive at 1024x600 resolution with IPS technology and supporting 16 million colors which B&N refers to as "VividView." The nook Color will ship on November 19th, and you can pre-order it now for $249.

If the $259 Barnes & Noble nook was too rich for your blood, but you’ve been wanting a quality e-reader, you are gonna wanna take a second look at what B&N has to offer. Today they’ve announced that they have cut the price of the 3G nook by $60—that means you can get the same nook that launched at $260 for $199 starting today. However, we think it’s safe to say that most people don’t really have a need for the 3G that’s built into the nook. It’s easy enough to log on to Wi-Fi and load up on books before you leave the house, or even at a hotspot. That said, B&N has also just announced a Wi-Fi-only nook, and that costs just $149. That is a fantastic deal, and we suggest that you jump on it if you were on the fence previously. In fact, to us, it looks like the best deal in the e-reader world to date.